State Prisons

The Georgia Department of Corrections has 34 state prisons across the state of Georgia, which house nearly 52,000 felony offenders.

State prisons house violent, repeat, or nonviolent offenders who have exhausted all other forms of punishment. Judges may sentence offenders directly to prison or offenders may be sent to prison as a result of revocation proceedings.

Offenders have access to classes and other services that allow them to reenter society successfully.

Offenders who are able-bodied are assigned to work details. These details may be connected to the ongoing operation of the facility (such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, or making general repairs around the facility) or are specialized details. With the increasing number of violent offenders within our corrections system due to criminal justice reform, specialized work details will reduce in size. The agency’s specialized details include:

Offender crews serve the construction needs of GDC, other state agencies, and communities. Carefully supervised, skilled offenders are temporarily housed in nearby facilities while completing approved renovation or remodeling jobs around the state.

Diagnostics & Classification

Offenders are assigned to a security level by the Next Generation Assessment (NGA), which utilizing factors that include the offender's sentence, nature of the crime, criminal history, history of violence, medical and treatment risks and needs. The classification levels are as follows:

Close Security

These offenders are escape risks, have assaultive histories, and may have detainers for other serious crimes on file. (A detainer is a request by another law enforcement agency to hold an offender pending other charges or actions). These offenders never leave the prison and require supervision at all times by a correctional officer. More information on Close Security Facilities in Georgia

These offenders tend to abide by prison regulations, present a minimal risk of escape, and have been judged to be a minimal threat to the community. Minimum security offenders are eligible for transitional centers.